Landmark survey of key BFSI decision-makers across Europe uncovers a widening gap between AI ambition and production-scale deployment - and the barriers standing in the way
LONDON and SANDNES, Norway, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ciklum and boost.ai today published the 2026 State of AI in BFSI Contact Centers: From Pilot to Agentic CX, an independent research report conducted by Coleman Parkes. Based on a survey of senior decision-makers responsible for AI strategy within banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) customer service, the report reveals that while AI adoption is underway across the sector, production-scale deployment remains the exception.
Forty-one percent of BFSI organisations are running AI pilots with nothing in full production, while just 4% have achieved a fully agentic, integrated service model. A further 32% have AI live in only one channel - underscoring the gap between early experimentation and the kind of integrated, governed AI deployment that delivers measurable business impact.
The research paints a clear picture of an industry caught between ambition and reality. Contact Centers are under acute pressure - the average cost per voice interaction across surveyed markets is $11 USD, yet the barriers to deploying AI at scale needed to address that pressure remain significant. Legacy systems integration complexity is the primary blocker, cited by 43% of respondents, while concerns around accuracy and hallucinations run high, with inaccurate AI responses named as the leading deployment concern by 32% of organisations across all markets.
What the data also reveals is how clearly buyers understand what they need from a modern AI platform. Accuracy and reliability at scale, integration capability, and a proven ability to deliver measurable ROI are the leading partner selection criteria - pointing to a market that has moved beyond hype and is now focused on production-proven performance. Yet 61% of organisations are still using AI primarily for cost containment, while half say their 2027 vision is proactive, revenue-generating omnichannel service. Closing that gap is the defining challenge for BFSI contact centers in the years ahead.
Key findings:
- 41% of BFSI organisations have AI pilots with nothing in full production
- 4% have achieved a fully agentic, integrated service model
- $11 USD average cost per voice interaction across surveyed markets
The full findings are available in the report here.
To coincide with the report launch, boost.ai and Ciklum will host a webinar - Why AI Pilots Fail to Scale: Lessons from 200 BFSI Leaders - on 16 September 2026 at 15:00 CET (14:00 BST). Speakers include Adam Fenwick, SVP Partnerships at boost.ai; Sarah Topping, Principal Lead Agentic CX at Ciklum; and Ramtin Matin, independent BFSI expert and COO & CTO at Huddlestock. Register here.
Quotes
Henry Vaage Iversen, CCO and Co-Founder, boost.ai:
"The data confirms what we see in the market every day. Most BFSI organisations have committed to AI, but very few have reached the scale that delivers real business impact. Getting from pilot to production in a regulated environment is as much an organisational challenge as a technical one. The companies that will pull ahead are those that treat production readiness as a strategic priority from the start, not an afterthought - and that choose partners who can prove performance in production, not just promise it."
Robert Easter, CRO, Ciklum:
"AI ambition is high in Financial Services, yet 41% of organisations are still stuck in pilot mode, and only 4% have deployed a fully integrated, agentic model. The barrier for these institutions isn't their vision; it's the complexity of integrating AI into legacy platforms, siloed data, and strict regulatory frameworks. The work we do with boost.ai has been solving this issue directly for many customers. By combining their market-leading conversational AI platform with Ciklum's industry expertise and deep systems-integration specialism, we are enabling Financial Services firms to embed AI directly into core business workflows and customer touchpoints.
The partnership is living proof that institutions can transition from disconnected experiments to secure, production-ready AI that drives efficiency, elevates agent performance, and delivers measurable value."
About the Report
The 2026 State of AI in BFSI: From Pilot to Agentic CX was commissioned by Ciklum and boost.ai and conducted independently by Coleman Parkes. The survey took place between May 11 and June 1, 2026, across eight European countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. All 200 respondents are either final decision-makers for AI strategy in customer service (42%) or part of the decision-making team (58%). Respondents are drawn from banking (40%), insurance (40%) and financial services (20%).
The full report is available at https://boost.ai/guides/2026-state-of-ai-in-bfsi-from-pilot-to-agentic-cx/?utm_source=webmax&utm_medium=press-release&utm_campaign=bfsi-report
About boost.ai
boost.ai is the trusted leader in AI-powered customer experience solutions for regulated industries. Built for security, speed, and scale, the platform enables fast deployment, high-resolution rates, and full hybrid control through seamless orchestration of traditional NLU and LLMs. With over 650 successful deployments, 600 live AI agents, and more than 150 million automated conversations, boost.ai helps enterprises around the world resolve with confidence, automate at scale, and trust every conversation. Proven performance and enterprise-grade reliability make boost.ai the partner of choice for leading brands across the world, including Nordea, Credit Union of Colorado, Sage, DNB, Trading 212, and more. boost.ai is recognized as a Leader in Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Conversational AI Platforms. Learn more at boost.ai.
About Ciklum
Ciklum is a global AI-powered Experience Engineering firm redefining how the world builds, innovates, and experiences technology. We combine product engineering, human-centered design, and AI to create solutions that reimagine industries and deliver real-world impact. Powered by 3,000+ engineers across EMEA, the US, and APAC, we bring over 25 years of product and AI excellence from foundational AI and agentic automation to accelerated software engineering that drives lasting value.
CONTACT: www.boost.ai | contact@boost.ai
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